A SPIRITUAL COMPOSITION

Chiu ya-tsai’s works predicates upon ideal archetypes in human nature, his portraits seem to accrue to themselves a certain public grandeur in reminiscence of historical personages. The artist’s favored subject of poets and writers, aesthetes and disaffected youths with privileged upbringings produced a stark contrast to his upbringing. In particular, Chiu is not interested in excessive facial emotions in his portraits as he regards expressions as them as fickle and fluctuates constantly. Instead, he strived to paint the inner spirit and temperament. In essence, the souls of Chiu’s characters appear as the artist originates from a place of calmness and further imbuing them.

Chiu’s oils are idealized visions with essences of refinement as he reflects a narrative quality to these complex characters. Chiu yearns for orders within the composition and out of the chaos and the unreadable emotions of these memorable archetypes results in these unforgettable portraits. Longing is imbued with an air of nostalgia as the rich velvety red backdrop extenuates the black sweaters of the central melancholic figure, who appears to be indulging in a moment of deep rumination in the nest of his malaise. Winter Emsemble The seated figure appears slender and elegant with his arms crossed, his dark green ensemble greatly contrasts with the red drapery on the left that opens up the plain yellow space delineating space and distance. His outlines are smooth and clear and his posture serene. Chiu’s figures are truly portraits in that they are always poised and limited in body language with a touch of mystery. This group of paintings epitomizes Chiu’s oeuvre and portrays the precarious nature of man’s being.

CONFUCIANISM AS THE ORIGIN

There is always a hint of the old world in Chiu’s art as he believes that humanity can be best portrayed by the ancient Confucius and the great figures from literatures of Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. Chiu insisted that the spirit of his art is a derivative of Tang and Sung dynasties figure paintings, like the ancient depictions of scholars and officials, the faces and gesture of his subjects provide hints of personality and mind set. In essence, Chiu’s took on a stylistic language infused with modern art in capturing a modern sensibility. The artist’s synthesis of Classical Chinese portraiture with Western elements results in parallels between his characters and those of Modigliani. It is Chiu ya-tsai’s old-fashioned faith in history and the wisdom of great men that prompt his paintings.